Temperament and Metacognition 1

Running Head: TEMPERAMENT AND METACOGNITION

Looking at Early Adolescents Temperament Dimensions and Metacognitive Components

Carlo Magno
Nicole Tangco
Nova Cabangon
Francis Crisostomo
De La Salle University-Manila
 Temperament and Metacognition 2

Abstract

The study explored the relationships between dimensions of temperament (attention,

activation control, inhibitory, and surgency) and the components of metacognition

(knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition). The Early Adolescent

Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R) and the Metacognitive Awareness

Inventory (MAI) were administered to 340 adolescents aged 12 to 15. The results showed

that all factors of temperament are significantly related to both knowledge of cognition

and regulation of cognition using bivariate correlation. The multiple regression model

showed that in the four temperamental dimensions under study, surgency was found to be

a common significant predictor of both knowledge of cognition and regulation of

cognition. The regression model showed that temperament with all factors combined

significantly predicts knowledge of cognition (R=.42) and regulation of cognition

(R=.35), p<.05.
 Temperament and Metacognition 3

Exploring Relationships between Temperament Dimensions and Metacognitive

Components

The age of adolescence was once often associated with the time of storm and

stress. Although most developmental psychologists have agreed that G. Stanley Hall’s

concept paints an inaccurate picture of what adolescents go through (Arnett, 2004), it

cannot be argued that adolescents go through stressful developmental changes. One way

or another, practically every aspect of the adolescent cognition undergoes change.

However, some things stay constant, things that are part of the genetic make up

and inborn traits guide a person along through life, somehow leading them to a position

that only they could get themselves into. These traits are collectively referred to as

temperament. It is this factor in early adolescents and its relationship to the development

of certain metacognitive abilities that is studied.

An adolescents’ temperament serve as roots on how they develop and use certain

cognitive skills like metacognition. The Big Five model of personality has empirically

proven itself to be significantly consistent across age and culture. Rothbart’s model of

temperament is closely related with four of the Big Five Factors of personality. The

conception of temperament proposed by Rothbart (1989) provides a better insight that

temperament depends in certain context. This context is framed in the present study in the

early adolescent stage where temperament’s reactivity to certain metacognitive ability is

emphasized. Temperament as an individual differences variable is fairly consistent across

setting which is suitable for the Filipino youth.

Rather than describing the relationship of metacognition with other cognitive

functions such as intelligence, aptitude, and task performance, it is intended to study

 Temperament and Metacognition 4

metacognition’s connection with the core personality traits of an individual set in the

assumption that temperament predetermines it. Primarily, the study provides a significant

notion that metacognitive abilities can be predicted based on the individual’s

temperament. The notion that differences in temperament may influence differences in

metacognitive abilities was based on the common concepts under temperament such as

self-regulation, effortful control, and positive affect as defined by Rothbart, Ahadi, and

Evans (2000) and attention, executive functioning, and mastery motivation.

Adolescence

Adolescence is a relatively new historical term, since its use only dates back to

the early 20th century. Adolescence refers to individuals that fall within the age group

conventionally called as “young adults”, “young men and women,” or “teenagers.” As a

period in life, adolescence is classified as the stage between the time when puberty

becomes noticeable and the time adulthood is reached. It is subdivided into three periods:

early adolescence (age 10 to 14), late adolescence (15 to 18 years old) and emerging

adulthood (18 to 25 years of age). Puberty generally occurs within the first two periods of

adolescence. It is the revolutionary biological change of an adolescent’s body which

undergoes metamorphosis from a childlike to an adult appearance, where important

changes like the development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics manifest.

As the metamorphosis continues, physical functioning of an individual reaches its peak

during emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2004).

 Temperament and Metacognition 5

Adolescent Personality and Temperament

Aside from being considered as a period for significant physical transformation,

adolescence also involves remarkable personality development. Personality, according to

Manaster (1989) is “just that which makes a person appear distinctly and consistently

different from others and distinctly and consistently like himself” (p.17). The most

comprehensive model in classifying personality is the Five Factor model. Its five factors

are founded under trait descriptive adjectives which every individual can describe their

selves or others with. The factors of the Big Five and adjectives associated to each factor

are as follows:

(1) Extroversion (assertive, enthusiastic, outgoing)

(2) Agreeableness (generous, kind, sympathetic)

(3) Conscientiousness (organized, planful, responsible)

(4) Neuroticism (anxious, self-pitying)

(5) Openness/Intellect (curious, imaginative, wide interests)

Aside from being comprehensive, the Five Factor model has been proven to be adequate

in describing personality across cultures. In studies about the Big Five and the

personalities of adolescents, the Five Factor model was not only consistent, but was also

indicative of their emotional well-being (Galambos & Costigan, 2001).

Personality, especially in adolescents, is commonly rooted to temperament.

Temperament is an attribute usually studied in infants and children. It is the multiple

biologically based genetically endowed behavioral attributes that enable them to react in

one way or another (Lefrançois, 1999). Many scholars believe that temperament is the

precursor of personality. It evolves and becomes thoroughly specialized during childhood

 Temperament and Metacognition 6

as personality traits, and demonstrated evidences of continuity and association from early

childhood to adolescence (Galambos & Costigan, 2001). According to Rothbart, Ahadi,

and Evans (2000), basic temperament processes were observed during early years of life

or during early childhood continue and exist throughout the life span of an individual.

Rothbart and Derryberry (1981) thus define temperament as reactivity to internal and

external stimulation, and self-regulation. It is in the differences in how individuals are

aroused by behavioral, emotional, and biological responses, together with differences in

how they modulate these activities through attention, approach and withdrawal that

describe temperament.

Despite the recent considerable growth of interest in the field of temperament,

researchers have not met to a universal definition of temperament and its cardinal

dimensions (Galambos & Costigan, 2001). Thomas and Chess (1977) pioneered the study

of this field as they tracked the lives of groups of infants into adulthood. From the nine

temperament dimensions that they have observed, Chess and Thomas were able to

classify children as “easy”, “slow to warm up” and “difficult” (Lefrançois, 1999). Other

models for temperament succeeded Thomas and Chess. The Emotionality, Activity,

Sociability (EAS) model of Buss and Plomin (1984) categorized temperament to three

basic dimensions. Based on studies done from childhood to adulthood, Rothbart and

colleagues identify three extensive temperament factors were prominent: Positive

emotionality, negative emotionality, and effortful control. The first, positive emotionality

or sociability, is measured by high scores on subscales of approach, high-intensity

pleasure and activity. The second, also known as affectivity, is measured by feelings of

fear, anger, discomfort, and sadness. The third, effortful control or persistence, is based
 Temperament and Metacognition 7

on inhibitory control, attentional focusing, low-intensity pleasure, and perceptual

sensitivity (Galambos & Costigan, 2001). Rothbart, Ahadi, and Evans (2000) reiterated

the dimensions under positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and effortful control to

address the problem of variability in labeling scales and constructs regarding

temperament.

Considering that characteristics of temperament have led to features of

personality, researchers have probed on the relationship of the Big Five personality traits

and the three factors of temperament. It was found that a correspondence existed between

the dimensions of temperament and personality. Rothbart, Ahadi, and Evans (2000)

reported that there was a correspondence with positive emotionality and extroversion,

negative emotionality and neuroticism, and effortful control and conscientiousness. They

also reported that four out of the Big Five factors had strong relationships with

temperament processes. These findings indicate continuity of temperament to personality,

despite the latter being broader and more specialized with behavior, motives, emotions,

attitudes, and values. Other studies consider temperament characteristics in early

childhood as predictive indicators of interpersonal relations, psychiatric disorders, and

criminal behavior.

Adolescent Cognitive Development

Adolescents also undergo changes in thinking, problem solving, memory and

attention (Arnett, 2004). These changes are referred to as cognitive development. Jean

Piaget’s cognitive-developmental approach is one of the most fundamental theories in

cognitive development. For Piaget, children actively and constructively seek out

information and environmental stimulation that matches the level of maturity of their
 Temperament and Metacognition 8

thinking. Cognitive structures are formed from experiences and these are then eventually

altered or modified according to the new information sought out that is dependent on

changing level of maturity of the child. The last two stages of Piaget’s cognitive

development theory (concrete and formal operations) fall under the three periods of

adolescence, namely early adolescence, late adolescence and emerging adulthood. At the

transition from early adolescent to late adolescent to emerging adulthood, thinking

becomes more complex in the formal operations stage. Adolescents at this stage develop

hypothetical-deductive reasoning where they are able to think of a correct response to a

situation, as well as defend and explain the response (Flavell, 1982). It is in this stage

when the adolescent develops abstract thinking, or thinking about mental concepts or

processes which are not experienced directly with the senses such as time, justice, and

hope. Complex thinking, the ability of the adolescent to comprehend multiple meanings

from a situation or idea as indicated by metaphors and sarcasm, is also developed in this

stage. Another development in the formal operations stage is characterized by

egocentrism since adolescents begin to introspect about their thought processes. This

allows adolescents to be aware of what they are thinking and oversee their thought

processes. Commonly known as “thinking about thinking”, this ability is termed as

metacognition. Metacognition facilitates problem solving for adolescents, and also has

practical applications to their social cognition when they develop the ability to think of

thoughts that others may think of (Arnett, 2004).

Temperament and Cognitive Development

Previously, temperament was discussed in its role in personality development.

There are also constructs of temperament that are related to cognitive processes.
 Temperament and Metacognition 9

According to Rothbart and Derryberry (1988), a major construct of temperament is self-

regulation and defined as:

…the ability to control arousal and emotional responses. It is often approached in

terms of behavioral forms of self-control, such as the inhibition of approach to

irrelevant or previously rewarded stimuli. However, much self-regulation is

carried out by covert attentional processes (p. 958).

A temperament dimension related with self-regulation, effortful control is defined as “the

ability to inhibit a dominant response to perform a subdominant response” (Rothbart &

Jones, 1998, p.483). It is also referred to as attention span. Effortful control is the concept

of temperament related with the development of executive functioning/attention (Posner

& Rothbart, 2000). Detection and planning tasks are under executive

functioning/attention (Rothbart & Jones, 1998; Rothbart et al, 2000). Executive

attention/functioning have similar biological characteristics and shares functions with

metacognition (Fernandez-Duque, Baird & Posner, 2000).

There are three factors under effortful control according to Ellis, Rothbart, and

Posner (2004), and these are: Attention, activation control, and inhibitory control.

According to the scale definitions of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-

Revised (EAQT-R), attention is “the capacity to focus attention as well as to shift

attention when desired” (p. 2). Arnett (2004) describes attention as either selective, where

irrelevant information is excluded from the stimuli which is focused upon or divided

when two or more stimuli are attended at the same time. Researchers report that

adolescents are more proficient in tasks for both selective and divided attention when

compared to preadolescents.
 Temperament and Metacognition 10

Activation control is described by the EAQT-R scale as “the capacity to perform

an action when there is a strong tendency to avoid it.” The same test also defines

inhibitory control as “the capacity to plan, and to suppress inappropriate responses.”

Differences in levels of inhibitory control have been related to several aspects of

metacognitive knowledge such as the theory of mind (Carlson & Moses, 2001).

The positive emotionality/affect dimension of temperament, in the perspective of

education, is related with curiosity, eagerness, and energy towards goal satisfaction, and

all three constructs are related to mastery motivation (Rothbart & Jones, 1998; Rothbart

& Hwang, 2005). Positive emotionality/affect is under a factor Rothbart and Jones (1998)

termed as surgency or extraversion, which the EAQT-R defines as the pleasure derived

from activities involving high intensity or novelty. Positive affect/approach is also

associated with prolonged engagement in activities (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). Surgency

and effortful control are both related to motivation, which is the “energization and

direction of behavior” (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005, p.170)

According to Messner (1995, p.319) mastery motivation is:

…a psychological force that stimulates an individual to attempt independently, in

a focused and persistent manner, to solve problems and master a skill or task that

is moderately challenging to him or her. (p.485)

In addition, Barret and Morgan (1995) indicated that it is also:

…intrinsic to the individual. Instrumental aspects of mastery motivation include

task persistence, preference for challenge or novelty, and an inclination to control

one’s environment. (pp. 485-486)

 Temperament and Metacognition 11

Mastery motivation is manifested in persistence in solving tasks and finding great

pleasure in mastering the environment (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005).

Levels of surgency, attention, activation control, and inhibitory control differ

across individuals and these indicate the kind of temperament each person has. Assuming

that these dimensions of temperament are related to cognitive concepts and their

development, this study tested the relationship that exists between the abovementioned

temperament factors and a particular cognitive ability that will be discussed below.

Metacognition

Metacognition refers to the second-order cognitions or “thinking about thinking.”

It refers to one’s knowledge and control of one’s own cognitive system. In actuality, it is

more than that; there can be no blanket definition for metacognitions for it comes in as

many types as there are types of cognition. There is metamemory, the first “meta-“ term

introduced to psychology, used in the study of metamemorial process in children and

coined by John Flavell in 1971. The term metacognition became popular at about 1975

and ever since then has been rather poorly understood and very liberally used. This is

rather problematic since metacognitions, according to Brown (1987) lie at the very heart

of the learning process and thus must be well mastered by any student of the field.

One thing that makes metacognition fuzzy is the problem of drawing the line

between what is plainly cognitive and what is metacognitive. The problem has been

tackled by trying to see the motive behind the action. Anything that involves directly

performing a task, like reading to study, is a cognitive thing; anything that involves

monitoring that task, like planning out and monitoring that plan to read to study is a

metacognitive action. It is just important to note that both these things may be manifested
 Temperament and Metacognition 12

in one fell swoop. In the reading example, the only overt behavior one might see is the

act of reading. Yet, both processes could be working hand-in-hand in the mind of the

person.

When one studies metacognition, one generally refers to one or both of two

distinct fields of study. There is Knowledge of Cognition and Regulation of Cognition.

Knowledge of Cognition (KC) refers to the information people have about the

way they think or about their cognitive processes. Such information is usually stable in

that it doesn’t change much, statable in that it is in a state of being that can be discussed

and talked about, and fallible in that people can know something about the way they think

that turns out to be something that cannot be confirmed empirically (Brown, 1987). KC

involves three sub-areas: declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conditional

knowledge. Declarative knowledge is knowledge about oneself and about cognitive

strategies. Procedural knowledge is the knowledge about how to use these strategies.

Last, conditional knowledge is knowledge about when and why to use these strategies

(Schraw & Dennison, 1994).

The other branch, as previously mentioned, is the Regulation of Cognition (RC).

Unlike KC, RC is not stable, statable, and is not age-dependent. It consists of

subprocesses done to oversee the general learning process. These include planning,

monitoring and checking outcomes (Brown, 1987). Another take on the subprocesses

involved by Schraw and Dennison (1994) is the following list: (1) planning, (2)

information management strategies, (3) comprehension monitoring, (4) debugging

strategies, and (5) evaluation.

 Temperament and Metacognition 13

While KC and RC are related, they have different roots and problems. Thus, any

questions asked regarding metacognition will almost always be answered at first with, “It

depends” because no proper answer can be given without knowing which branch of

metacognition one is dealing with.

Effortful control and surgency are factors of temperament (Ahadi & Rothbart,

1994; Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000; Rothbart & Jones, 1998). As mentioned earlier,

the subscales on attention, activation control, and inhibitory control are under the factor

of effortful control. Effortful control and surgency are significant contributors to

motivation. The cognitive function self-regulation and executive attention/functioning are

related with effortful control and its components, while the cognitive function of mastery

motivation is related with surgency/extraversion. Self-regulation, executive attention,

motivation and mastery motivation are involved in metacognition.

It was mentioned earlier that the levels of temperament components may vary

between individuals. The same components of temperament are related to specific

cognitive functions, and these cognitive functions are also concepts under metacognition.

It is in the assumption of these conceptual relationships that this study aims to determine

if the abovementioned temperament factors significantly predict metacognition and its

components. This study also investigated which among the four aspects (subscales) of

temperament (surgency, attention, activation control, and inhibitory control) best predicts

knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. This study also determined the

temperament component that best predicts metacognition in general.

The present study extends the two earlier studies of Rothbart. The present study

measured the temperament dimensions of early adolescents (because this is the period
 Temperament and Metacognition 14

when metacognition starts to develop, and where the adolescent temperament scale to be

used in this study specifies its specific age for respondents, 10-16 years old) and measure

their regulation of cognition and knowledge of cognition, which will be evaluated using

multiple regression analysis.

Method

Respondents and Sampling Design

There were 340 respondents who participated in the study. Majority of the

respondents were chosen by the administrators of their respective schools, and

encouraged them to participate. The criteria for a respondent in this sample are as

follows: (1) Respondent’s age is 12 to 15 years old; (2) currently studying in a private

high schools in Metro Manila.

Instruments

Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R). This

instrument was based on Rothbart and Capaldi’s Early Adolescent Temperament

Questionnaire (1992). It has four factors: Effortful control, surgency, affiliativeness, and

negative affect. Aggression and depressive mood scales were added to the instrument

enabling it to measure the relationship of temperament with concepts related to

socialization. The instrument has 103 items with twelve scales that measure features of

self-regulation, reactivity, and emotionality. The revision of the test found three of the

scales failing to make the cut-off alpha (attention=.67, fear=.65, deprresive mood=.67).

The parent report forms that were developed by Rothbart and her colleagues alongside

the self-report questionnaire also fared well but did not correlate highly with the self-
 Temperament and Metacognition 15

report forms of their children. Upon performing exploratory factor analyses, four distinct

factors emerged, with good interfactor correlations.

The Metacognitive Assessment Inventory (MAI). The MAI by Schraw and

Dennison (1994) was used to measure metacognition. It has 52 items answerable by a

Likert scale. The instrument has two factors, namely knowledge of cognition and

regulation of cognition. Its authors conducted two experiments to reinforce the

persistence of the said factors. Both factors were reliable (α = 0.90) and were

intercorrelated (r = 0.54). Knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition each also

has subcomponents and can be measured also with the instrument.

Procedure

The selected schools provided the researchers with testing rooms where

respondents completed the instruments. For individual and small group testing,

respondents were asked to complete the test in venues which were adequate for testing.

Prior to the administration of the instruments, the respondents were briefed about the

objective of the research and each test was explained to them. The respondents were

asked to sign an informed consent form acknowledging that they have well understood

the purpose of the testing and they were willing to participate in this study. After a brief

introduction, the EAQT-R was administered to the respondents. They were instructed to

complete the instrument within one hour and fifteen minutes. After all respondents in the

testing group have finished answering the EAQT-R, they were encouraged to rest for

fifteen minutes. After the rest period, the MAI was administered to the respondents. They

were asked to complete the instrument within forty minutes. After everyone in the test

group has completed the MAI, the objectives of the research were given to them and they
 Temperament and Metacognition 16

were given online contact information of the researcher in case they wish to view the

results and interpretations of the tests they have taken. The respondents were also told

that individual data gathered from will be kept confidential. The testing and briefing

procedures were supervised by the researchers.

Data Analysis

The multiple regression technique was used to determine if the dimensions of

temperament significantly predict metacognition and its two factors. The same method

was used to determine which among the temperament dimensions (attention, activation

control, inhibitory control, and surgency) significantly predicts knowledge of cognition,

regulation of cognition, and metacognition in general.

Results

This study aimed to evaluate certain temperament dimensions as predictors of

metacognition. It also sought to determine the dimension of temperament that best

predicts metacognition and its components, and find out the metacognitive components

that is best predicted by temperament. The data were analyzed using multiple regression

technique. The predictor variables were the temperament dimensions (activation control,

attention, inhibitory control, and surgency).

 Temperament and Metacognition 17

Table 1

Mean and Standard Deviation of Temperament and Metacognition Components

Mean SD N Cronbach’s
alpha
MAI
Knowledge of 69.53 3.86 345 .92
Cognition
Regulation of 66.03 3.54 345 .94
Cognition
EATQ-R
Activation 3.41 3.87 345 .91
Control
Attention 3.05 3.54 345 .85
Inhibitory Control 3.03 4.73 345 .85
Surgency 3.15 6.04 345 .82
Note. MAI components are in a scale of 0 to 100, EATQ-R is a five-point scale.

The scores on the MAI are above the midpoint which is 50. The MAI scores are

not that high and considered as marginal to the midpoint. There is high dispersion as

indicated by the standard deviations. The scores for the EATQ-R are within the midpoint

of the scale. There is high variability of scores for surgency. High internal consistencies

of the scores were obtained for the data as indicated by the Cronbach’s alpha.

Table 2

Intercorrelation of the Factors of MAI and EATQ-R

Activation Inhibitory
Control Attention Control Surgency KC RC
Activation Control 1.00 0.28** 0.34** 0.11** 0.21** 0.18**
Attention 1.00 0.37** 0.23** 0.28** 0.19**
Inhibitory Control 1.00 0.23** 0.25** 0.25**
Surgency 1.00 0.32** 0.27**
KC 1.00 0.87**
RC 1.00
**p<.01, *p<.05
Note. KC=Knowledge of Cognition; RC=Regulation of Cognition.
 Temperament and Metacognition 18

The three temperament dimensions under the factor Effortful Control (Activation

Control, Attention, and Inhibitory Control) were found to be moderately intercorrelated

with each other. The moderate levels of the coefficients confirm that these factors

represent separate and distinct dimensions. Surgency is also significantly related with the

other temperament dimensions. Knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition

showed a high correlation with each other.

Table 3

Multiple Regression Model predicting Knowledge of Cognition

Unstandardized Unstandardized Standardized Standardized

t(68) p-level
Β SE β SE
Activatio
0.11* 0.05 0.38 0.19 2.01 0.04
n Control
Attention 0.16* 0.05 0.62 0.21 2.89 0.00
Inhibitory
0.09 0.06 0.29 0.16 1.79 0.07
Control
Surgency 0.25* 0.05 0.57 0.12 4.86 0.00
**p<.01, *p<.05
Note. R= 0.42, R²= 0.17, Adjusted R²= 0.29, F(4,340)=17.84, (p<.05) Std.Error of estimate: 12.74

To determine which temperament dimension significantly predicts knowledge of

cognition, the beta coefficients were noted with their corresponding p-values. Table 1

show that surgency is the best predictor of knowledge of cognition among early

adolescent Filipinos; it has an unstandardized beta coefficient of 0.35 and standardized

beta coefficient of 0.77, attesting that it increases knowledge of cognition. Early

adolescent Filipinos that have high levels of surgency also appear to have better mastery

and use of their knowledge of cognition. Attention (unstandardized beta coefficient =

0.16; standardized beta coefficient = 0.62) and activation control (unstandardized beta

coefficient = 0.11; standardized beta coefficient = 0.38) also significantly contribute to

better knowledge of cognition. Despite being under the same factor, effortful control, the
 Temperament and Metacognition 19

contribution of inhibitory control was negligible compared to that of attention and

activation control. The predictors when combined had a relationship of R = 0.42 with

knowledge of cognition. All of the predictors account for knowledge of cognition 17.35%

of the time. The regression was a rather fair fit (R2adj = 29%), but the overall relationship

was significant (R=.42 , p < 0.05).

Table 7

Multiple Regression Model predicting Regulation of Cognition

Unstandardized Unstandardized Standardized Standardized

t(68) p-level
Β SE β SE
Activation
0.09 0.06 0.32 0.19 1.70 0.09
Control
Attention 0.05 0.06 0.22 0.22 1.01 0.31
Inhibitory
0.15* 0.06 0.43 0.16 2.64 0.01
Control
Surgency 0.21* 0.05 0.46 0.12 3.89 0.00
**p<.01, *p<.05
Note. R= 0.35, R²= 0.12 Adjusted R²= 0.24, F(4,340)=11.71 (p<.05) Std.Error of estimate: 12.77

To determine which temperament dimension significantly predicts regulation of

cognition, the beta coefficients were noted with their corresponding p-values. As with

KC, the table shows that surgency turned out to be the best predictor of regulation of

cognition among early adolescent Filipinos; it has an unstandardized beta coefficient of

0.21 and a standardized beta coefficient of 0.46 which means it has a positive relationship

with RC. Thus, early adolescent Filipinos that have high levels of surgency appear to

regulate their cognition better. It can be noted in Table 3 that inhibitory control

(unstandardized beta coefficient = 0.15; standardized beta coefficient = 0.43), also

contribute significantly to better regulation of cognition. The predictors when combined

had a relationship of R=0.35 with RC. All of the predictors account for RC 12% of the
 Temperament and Metacognition 20

time. The regression was a rather considerable fit (R2adj = 24%), but the overall

relationship was significant, F (4, 340) = 11.71, p < 0.05.

Based on the data shown, surgency is the best predictor of knowledge of cognition

and regulation of cognition. In other words, surgency is the best predictor of

metacognition in general. Both knowledge of cognition (R = 0.32) and regulation of

cognition (R = 0.35) were significantly predicted by the combined effect of the four

dimensions of temperament studied.

Discussion

It was found in the study that the four factors of temperaments (activation control,

attention, inhibitory control, and surgency) are significantly related with the two

components of metacognition (knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition).

When the four factors of temperament were used as predictors, knowledge of cognition

was significantly predicted by surgency, attention, and activation control. On the other

hand, regulation of cognition was significantly predicted by surgency and inhibitory

control. The common significant predictor for knowledge of cognition and regulation of

cognition is surgency. Surgency is described as eagerness and curiosity (Rothbart &

Jones, 1998) and persistence in solving tasks and finding pleasure in mastering the

environment (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). Positive affect/approach is a characteristic of

temperament that covers surgency, and it is related to long engagement in activities of

individuals. Having a positive affect temperament like surgency facilities the

metacogntive process. This shows that the Filipino early adolescent when they engage in
 Temperament and Metacognition 21

a task that they highly enjoy, there is a greater effort that they use metacognitive

processes.

The dimensions of effortful control (attention, activation control, and inhibitory

control) vary as predictors on knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. These

three dimensions are described as executive attention and works actively in detection and

planning tasks (Rothbart et al, 2000). The execution of these tasks differs to the kind of

metacognition component being predicted. Effortful control and surgency contributes the

most to regulation of cognition. Effortful control includes flexibility of thought and

control of emotion (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). It is the temperament dimension related to

self-regulation, because executing this more active component of metacognition would

require active attentional shifting and focusing tasks on appropriate stimuli (Posner &

Rothbart, 2000). On the other hand, surgency, attention, and activation control increases

knowledge of cognition. These temperaments are helpful in sustaining and maintaining

engagement in tasks. Knowledge of cognition as a declarative process is sustained by

variables such as attention and activation control.

Considering that high surgency levels include mastery motivation and long

engagement in activities, these individuals can attempt numerous strategies to approach

problems and challenging situations (since they derive pleasure from the new experience

or information they acquire from performing the task at hand). Prolonged durations of

exposing oneself to challenging tasks may also enable them to come up with different

strategies to solve a particular problem. Effortful control becomes functional when

numerous and different accumulated strategies to approach a situation are evaluated as

helpful or unhelpful, something similar to attending to an appropriate response and not

 Temperament and Metacognition 22

carrying out an inappropriate response. It is effortful control that is active when there is a

need for the strategy to be re-evaluated in response to a problem by discontinuing the

plan of performance and focusing on an alternative. Because of their repeated encounters

with challenging problem-solving tasks, there is a possibility that the strategies and their

selection can be fine-tuned and become sophisticated in the long run. The highly

developed metacognition of high surgency individuals then may have resulted from

solving a series of challenging situations and problem-solving tasks that they

purposefully immerse themselves in (to obtain pleasure from a novel experience or new

information).

Effortful control (activation, attention, and inhibitory) is also involved in the

development of executive attention/functioning, which is the concept seemingly most

related to metacognition because it assesses and regulates the production of voluntary

action. The closeness of the relationship of both concepts might be even attributed to a

shared biological root because the midfrontal areas of the brain are involved in both

processes. There are also functions that are common to both executive attention and

metacognition like regulation of memory. It is possible that the contributions of effortful

control (attention, activation control, and inhibitory control) to metacognition stems from

the functions that are similar to executive attention. However, it is interesting to note that

despite effortful control’s conceptual links with metacognition, surgency still emerged as

the best predictor for metacognition.

Surgency or extraversion is the pleasure derived from activities involving high

intensity or novelty (Ellis, Rothbart, & Posner, 2004). Extraverts are stimulation seekers

and they display curiosity and explorative behavior. Finding novelty pleasurable enables
 Temperament and Metacognition 23

them to be acquainted with new situations without difficulty, especially when a reward is

involved in the situation (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). Considering that their qualities of

curiosity and exploratory behavior enable them to extensively explore their environment,

it is also possible that their explorations are not limited to the external, but they also

discover the limitless possibilities of internal processes, such as their cognitive abilities.

They may also find pleasure in exploring new ways in perceiving and manipulating their

environment. As they become older, individuals with high surgency tend to evaluate their

explorative efforts (Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). Assuming that they also evaluate the

explorative efforts they have made with their cognitive abilities, it is possible for them to

consider whether they have acquired enough knowledge about things and their thoughts.

Evaluating one’s knowledge is considered to be metacognitive. Through evaluation of

their thoughts and their knowledge about their environment, they can determine if

specific information about different things, objects, events, etc. are adequate or

insufficient. Because extraverts are driven by their curiosity, they seek to know more

about the subjects which they think they know less about. The new information acquired

gratifies them and, as a result of this explorative effort, they evaluate the new information

they have obtained. The process may repeat if extraverts think that they know less about

specific things. It is in their pursuit of being gratified by novel activities that they put into

practice the evaluation of their knowledge, which allows them to determine if they need

more information, and in turn seek this information and achieve pleasure in obtaining

new knowledge.

On the other hand, low surgency indicates introversion, or individuals that are

fearful, easily frustrated, associate negativity with events, and related with shyness (Ellis
 Temperament and Metacognition 24

& Rothbart, 2001; Rothbart & Hwang, 2005). Individuals with low surgency do not

extensively seek stimulation because a modest amount of it is already enough for them.

Assuming that they do not actively seek out new activities and information, the

experiences and information they acquire that they evaluate are limited. At the same time,

it may occur that there is no longer a need for evaluating the sufficiency of newly

acquired knowledge about thought and experience because they are not driven to know if

there is a need for new information. This may be a result of their tendency to avoid

stimulation. Because of the lack of impulse for exploration and a possible resolution of

neglecting knowledge evaluation because it is not beneficial to them (unlike in extraverts

where evaluation of their knowledge is also a strategy of acquiring pleasure), individuals

with low surgency may have less opportunities of understanding their cognitive

capacities. Fearful individuals may miss out opportunities where they can put into

practice the evaluation of their knowledge because they will rather employ avoidant

strategies than engage in stimulating exploratory behavior. It is also in this perspective

that individuals with low surgency may not have remarkable metacognition for the reason

that their estimation of success is affected by the negativity and frustration they associate

with events, and avoiding stimuli rather than exploring them may cause fearful

individuals to be unfamiliar with their cognitive abilities.

Thus, it appears that before one can apply the effortful control dimensions in

one’s cognitive processes through metacognition, one has to first seek out opportunities

to do so. It is surgency that enables one to seek out these aforementioned opportunities,

and it is surgency that motivates one to maximize these opportunities through

metacognitive evaluation. It is with surgency that the individuals seek pleasure from
 Temperament and Metacognition 25

novel experiences and information, and carry out metacognition. As a result of applying

mastery motivation in prolonged engagement in challenging activities, it enables the

individual to come up with numerous approaches to solve problems and perform tasks.

Through this, metacognition can be extensively used by evaluating the most appropriate

strategy for a particular situation. It is in the constant deliberate encounters with new

demanding circumstances that metacognitive abilities are honed, and it is in limited

encounters with explorative situations that metacognition may become stagnant and

unused. It is then that one’s Effortful control can come into play

Though surgency is the best predictor for metacognition, it does not follow that it

is the only by having high levels of surgency through which metacognition arises for the

reason that metacognition is present in everyone. There can be a significant absence of

surgency but metacognitive (regulatory) processes (probably in lesser levels) would still

present because of effortful control. Surgency may enhance metacognitive abilities for

the reason that it influences how an individual approaches novel situations and problem

solving tasks. The development of metacognition to remarkable degrees can be attributed

to constant stimuli and possible cognitive explorations individuals have undergone as a

result of their motivation to manipulate their environment and seek pleasure from novel

experiences and new information. With the constant pursuit for new things, the individual

may develop and accumulate new responses and new strategies to go beyond challenging

situations. Regulatory processes may become more active in high surgency individuals

because of the numerous accumulated approaches and strategies, especially in cases

where they have already applied multiple techniques in various demanding situations and

they are selecting the appropriate strategy for future or present task. In contrast, the
 Temperament and Metacognition 26

cognitive regulation of the temperamentally fearful and low surgency individuals may not

be as notable as those of with high surgency because their preference to avoid stimuli and

use avoidant strategies may restrict them from acquiring and developing different

approaches in performing tasks and solving problems. The acquisition of fewer

approaches may result to minimal cognitive regulation because there are fewer strategies

to attend to, and usually strategies of low surgency individuals bypass the challenging

situation because they are not motivated or do not find pleasure in unraveling moderately

difficult situations.

The present study did not only show the common temperament (surgency) that

predicts metacogntion, but it also showed that certain temperament distinctly predicts

knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. The more active temperaments are

more likely to predict regulation of cognition that includes inhibitory control and

surgency. While the maintaining components of temperament such as attention, activation

control and surgency works better for knowledge of cognition.

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